Four students from the Legacy art program, selected by art teacher Dave Mason, have the opportunity to participate in the national art competition “Custom Culture” held by Vans. They must design four pairs of shoes, to be customized around four themes: Art, Music, Action Sports and Local Flavor. Pictures of the shoes must be submitted by April 6, 2015. The competitors are sophomore Sally Swanson, junior Michelle McDaniel, and seniors Dawn Espenschied and Rory Garber.
“I chose [these four students] because I believe that their styles fit the culture and style that Vans is looking for,” Art teacher Mason said. “The way that they came up with the application is one that I think works best to get all of the information on the shoes in a creative manor.”
Van’s internal team will narrow down the submissions to their top 50, and then the top 10 from each region will be available for a public vote.
“[This competition] is great,” Espenscheid said. “You get to see so many peoples’ art and interpretations of the themes. That’s what art is: interpretations.”
The Grand Prize winner will be determined at the final event in NYC, to which the top five finalists will be flown to. The winner will receive $50,000 for their high school art program and a chance for their design to be sold in Van’s retail stores. Runner ups will receive $4,000 toward their schools, and Laguna College of Art and Design is offering a partial scholarship to the top five senior finalists.
“I’ve always loved Vans, and I still do,” Espenscheid said. “I think I’m going to start designing and drawing on shoes again because of this.”
The shoes will be judged on how well they fit Vans’ symbology, subject manor, fit to the target group of patrons, how well they match the themes and creativity involved in the design.
“It’s a subjective competition,” Mr. Mason said. “There are all kinds of variables that you can’t control with the judging process. You never know.”
